The raster grids in this dataset show the relative amount of summertime fog and low cloud cover (FLCC) over a decade for North and Central Coastal California on either a monthly or annual basis. Summertime FLCC is calculated as the average FLCC hours per day from an archive of hourly, day and night, June, July, August, and September, 1999 - 2009, GOES (geostationary operational environmental satellite) images collected and processed into ~26, 000 cloud maps by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA). These decadal average FLCC rasters do not include years 2001 and 2006 due to missing or incomplete data for June 2001 and August 2006.
Layers included:
Files, Description1 Decadal Summer (average of all 4 summer months over all available years)2 Decadal Standard Deviation (SD) & Coefficient of Variance (CV) (for above average)4 Decadal By Month (average for each summer month over all available years)2 Decadal Daytime & Nighttime (average day/night for all 4 summer months over all available years)The dataset also includes a (vector) contour layer, attached separately, that is an interpolated version of the Decadal Summer raster above.
For more information about this data and the Pacific Coastal Fog Project, see http://geography.wr.usgs.gov/fog (link is external) and this article at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015EA000119/full
